The Tour du Mont Blanc route
A 165 km loop around the Mont Blanc massif, through three countries and seven valleys, with 9,451 m of ascent. Here is the route stage by stage, computed from the real trail profile.
Updated
- 165 kmmain loop
- +9,451 mtotal ascent
- 2,523 mhighest point
- 981 mlowest point
- 3countries: FR, IT, CH
- 8variants
The route at a glance
The Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) circles the whole massif along the valleys and passes around it: the Val Montjoie and the Vallée des Glaciers in France, the Val Veny and the Val Ferret in Italy, the Swiss Val Ferret and the Trient valley in Switzerland, then the Chamonix valley to close the loop. The trail is waymarked (white-red marks and “TMB” signs) and has no technical section on the main route.
What makes the TMB demanding is the repetition: almost every day you climb a pass of 600 to 1,300 m, then descend as much. Most hikers take 10 or 11 days, faster ones 6 or 7, and trail runners fewer than 4. See the detail by duration.
The 11 classic stages
The most common split starts in Les Houches and goes anticlockwise. The figures below are measured on the main route, without variants; walking time follows the DIN 33466 method, without breaks.
| Stage | Start → finish | km | D+ | D− | Walking | High point |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | Les Houches → Les Contamines-Montjoie | 17.2 | 941 | 798 | 6h53 | 1,675 m |
| D2 | Les Contamines-Montjoie → Les Chapieux | 18.2 | 1,319 | 909 | 8h30 | 2,478 m |
| D3 | Les Chapieux → Rifugio Elisabetta | 13.9 | 967 | 384 | 5h44 | 2,512 m |
| D4 | Rifugio Elisabetta → Courmayeur | 15.8 | 479 | 1,418 | 6h25 | 2,405 m |
| D5 | Courmayeur → Rifugio Bonatti | 11.9 | 1,051 | 238 | 5h28 | 2,036 m |
| D6 | Rifugio Bonatti → La Fouly | 19.5 | 853 | 1,275 | 7h50 | 2,523 m |
| D7 | La Fouly → Champex-Lac | 15.1 | 516 | 630 | 5h16 | 1,603 m |
| D8 | Champex-Lac → Trient | 15.5 | 790 | 961 | 6h30 | 2,048 m |
| D9 | Trient → Tré-le-Champ | 13.7 | 1,074 | 952 | 7h12 | 2,218 m |
| D10 | Tré-le-Champ → La Flégère | 6.4 | 725 | 275 | 3h46 | 2,130 m |
| D11 | La Flégère → Les Houches | 17.4 | 734 | 1,613 | 7h51 | 2,473 m |
The big passes of the tour
The passes set the rhythm of the tour: they give the best views, and they hold snow the longest. Above 2,400 m, snow patches can linger into July, especially on north-facing slopes.
- 2,537 mGrand Col FerretSnow possible early in the season
- 2,515 mCol de la SeigneSnow possible early in the season
- 2,433 mCol de la croix du bonhommeSnow possible early in the season
- 2,368 mCol du BréventMid-altitude pass
- 2,329 mCol du BonhommeMid-altitude pass
- 2,049 mPorte à l'Ô/Col de PortaloMid-altitude pass
Which direction to walk the TMB?
Anticlockwise (classic)
The direction of guidebooks and most hikers. Climbs are often more gradual and you keep Mont Blanc in view at the end, from the Aiguilles Rouges balcony.
Clockwise (reverse)
Fewer crowds alongside you: you pass the main flow of hikers rather than follow it. The big climbs fall on different slopes.
Both work
The trail is waymarked both ways. The myTMB planner recalculates stages, ascent and accommodation in whichever direction you choose.
Where to start the Tour du Mont Blanc?
Les Houches, near Chamonix, is the traditional start. But a loop has no fixed beginning: you can start from any village served by public transport and finish in the same place.
- Les Houches / Chamonix: easy access from Geneva, every service.
- Les Contamines-Montjoie: a quieter start, by bus from Saint-Gervais.
- Courmayeur: handy from Italy, via Aosta or the Mont Blanc tunnel.
- Champex-Lac: a Swiss start, by train and postal bus from Martigny.
The variants
The TMB has several official variants that replace a section of the route: higher and more spectacular (Col des Fours, Fenêtre d’Arpette, Lac Blanc, Col de Tricot), or lower for bad-weather days (Vallorcine). myTMB includes 8 of them.